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Biology Goes Open Source

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the models-that-work-from-time-to-time dept.

cford writes "According to Forbes some of the drug company giants are finally realizing that their genetic research is worth more if they give it away. 'Novartis, the Basel, Switzerland, drug giant, has helped uncover which of the 20,000 genes identified by the Human Genome Project are likely to be associated with diabetes. But rather than hoard this information, as drug firms have traditionally done, it is making it available for free on the World Wide Web. "It will take the entire world to interpret these data," says Novartis research head Mark Fishman. "We figure we will benefit more by having a lot of companies look at these data than by holding it secret."'"

3 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Biological Stallman by shawn443 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But another requirement of making the leap from genes to drugs is making the research public--a step that will make it difficult for researchers elsewhere to patent any of this raw genetic information. The only thing I hate worse than software patents are genetic patents. If any industries could use a Stallman it would be biotech and genetic.
  2. Mainly a good PR move . . . by cashman73 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It's not like Novartis has made their entire drug database public with all of their notes regarding which drugs they're interested in pursuing or not,... They've done some significant analysis into the diabetes gene, and rather than withholding it, they're making it public. There's no real compelling reason to protect this aspect of the research, so why not? The benefits of releasing it outweigh the negatives:

    • They still get to do their own research and develop their own drugs to target specific genes in this area.
    • They get huge kudos in the PR arena for their attempts at finding a cure for cancer diabetes. They can use this in advertising campaigns.
    • As researchers in other pharmaceutical companies and/or academia use this information, they'll eventually write grants and use it in their research. Novartis will still get the advantage from them citing the source,... Again, see the above advertising part,...
  3. Re:What do you know by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I applaud the company, the notion that the human genome or any part of it is anyone's to keep, license or give away is appalling.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.